How to Make Your iPhone or iPad’s Text Easier to Read

The default text size on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch is, well, for some a breeze to navigate, and yet, for others, reading it can be a major pain in the butt — often requiring them to squint or hold the device even closer to their face in order to make out those difficult to decipher words.

Fortunately, however, for those running iOS versions 7.0 or later, there are a few neat tricks you can implement to increase the size of fonts in system apps — those apps featuring Dynamic Type such as Mail, Messages, Notes, and Contacts.

Here’s How to Make Your iPhone or iPad Easier to Read

For those with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running iOS 8.0 or later, start by navigating to..

1. Settings
2. Display & Brightness
3. Text Size

For those still running any version of iOS 7, go to Settings > General > Text Size.

The sub-menu will display a meter, similar to the one displayed in the Twitter app, allowing you to enlarge or decrease the text size within apps supporting Dynamic Type on your device.

If none of the available options on the spectrum are sufficient, however, you always have the option of making the text even larger — by switching the “Larger Accessibility Sizes” toggle to on.

To do this, simply go to..

1. Settings
2. General
3. Accessibility
4. Finally tap on Larger Text (or Larger Type in iOS 7.)

From the menu, you’ll notice the Larger Text toggle we’re referring to, which when activated, will enable you to increase the font size even more — like, a lot more.

More Options for Better Readability

If the size and/or clarity still isn’t sufficient for your personal needs or desires, you have two options at this point:

One would be to enable the Zoom feature, located under the Accessibility settings sub-menu. Zoom can be tweaked to your personal preferences, whether they yearn for a “Full Screen Zoom” (and panning with 3 fingers) or a smaller “Window Zoom” (which will only zoom in on a particular portion of the screen — wherever the window is placed. There are a number of settings you can play around with under the zoom sub-menu, such as the zoom region, filter, and maximum zoom level — all of which can be accessed by going to..

1. Settings
2. General
3. Accessibility
4. and then selecting Zoom

Want to increase the text clarity? You can even do that, too! Simply go to..

1. Settings
2. General
3. Accessibility
4. Then select the Bold Text option, switching the toggle from off to on. (Be aware that enabling — or disabling — the bold text feature will require your device to reboot in order to take effect.

Learn More: 6 Ways to Repurpose and Reuse Your Old iPhone or iPad